Shakespeare and Company has a long history of hospitality to writers that was begun by expatriate Silvia Beech in 1919. After her death in 1964 George Whitman renamed his bookshop to Shakespeare and Company in her honor. This shop is located on the left bank directly across fro Notre Dame and is a must see for everyone who loves reading. I visit this shop every time I am in Paris and have left reflections of me in windows and mirrors inside. George Whitman died in 2011 at the age of 98 and his bookshop is a marvelous tribute to his love of the written word, to the many writers who were the beneficiaries of his philanthropy and to the readers of the world.
